For the last 32 years, residents of Butambala have watched successive cabinet appointments come and go without seeing one of their own named minister.
The last person from Butambala to serve in cabinet was the late Abbey Kafumbe Mukasa, who was deputy minister of Finance before his death in 1994.
Kafumbe had represented Butambala in parliament between 1980 and 1985 on a Democratic Party ticket before crossing to the Movement in 1986.
Since his death, no politician directly from Butambala has returned to cabinet, creating one of the longest ministerial droughts in Buganda.
The issue has resurfaced again following President Museveni’s latest cabinet appointments, where some districts in Buganda received more than one ministerial slot while Butambala remained absent from the list.
In the newly announced cabinet, Luweero district alone secured two ministers; Cissy Mulondo who was appointed minister of state for Finance (General Duties) and Dr John Chrysostom Muyingo, who retained his docket of state minister for Higher Education.
Elsewhere, Katakwi, Isingiro and Rukungiri districts each have two slots in cabinet. Katakwi has Vice President Jessica Alupo, and Peter Ogwang, the minister of state for Sports. Rukungiri has generals Jim Muhwezi and Henry Tumukunde while Isingiro has Bright Rwamirama and Adonia Ayebare.
The closest Butambala has come to a cabinet post in recent years was during the tenure of Namirembe Bitamazire, who served as minister of Education from the late 1990s and to the mid 2000s. Bitamazire was the Woman MP for Mpigi and at that time Butambala was still a county under Mpigi.
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Butambala only became a fully fledged district in 2010.
The district occupies a unique place in Buganda’s history and politics. It is one of Buganda’s 18 traditional counties and was historically designated as a special county for Muslims.
Politically, Butambala was once considered a stronghold of the NRM because one of the party’s historical leaders, Moses Kigongo, hails from the area. Kigongo is the NRM’s first national vice-chairperson but his influence in the politics of Butambala has signifantly waned.
However, the district’s political landscape has changed significantly in recent years.
In the 2021 general elections, the opposition dominated the electoral positions with the two parliamentary slots going to Muwanga Kivumbi and Aisha Kabanda of the National Unity Platform. NUP’s Robert Kyagulanyi also defeated Museveni in the district at presidential level.
The current MPs from the district, Eriasa Mukiibi and Lydia Mirembe, are independents.
Some local leaders believe this political shift may partly explain why the district continues to miss out on Museveni’s cabinet appointments. But it has been long.
